"Great, yet another rainy day..." Jack sighed as he looked out the window. He looked around his sparsely decorated bachelor pad and frowned. It had been almost a year since Jack had moved to Flower Bud village yet his home looked the same as it had since the day he moved in. A bed, a TV propped up on crates, a table, a cabinet, a fridge, and a small cooking area. "Maybe I should take up Lyla's offer and let her redecorate my place... No, that's probably a bad idea," He began to laugh as he imagined all the floral arrangements that would no doubt be everywhere if Lyla had her way.
A bright flash of lightning followed by the resounding boom of the thunder that followed split the sky. A scared and pitiful mooing noise caught Jack's attention. He sighed again as he rose from his chair, taking the last sip of his morning coffee. Tossing the remainder of the cup in the sink Jack caught a glimpse of someone standing by the river that ran through his property. He grabbed his umbrella from next to the door and stepped out into the cool wet autumn day.
"Joe? What are you doing here?" Jack called out as he wandered towards the man standing by the river.
"Oh sorry Jack, I hope you don't mind me doing some fishing here," Joe grinned while his hair already soaking wet clung tightly to his face.
"No I don't mind. But why are you fishing now in this weather?" Jack asked, slipping slightly on the wet grass as he came to a stop.
"Well, I didn't want to waste my day off sitting at my place. Besides Kurt is being extra surly today," Joe chuckled.
Joe always seemed to be fishing by the river every Tuesday. He wasn't a bother in Jack's mind however, he never got in the way and always offered a helping hand. Not the greatest farmer he still knew how to use a watering can properly. He was really friendly and Jack always enjoyed his company. "Look, I want you to go inside. Grab a towel from my cabinet and dry yourself off before you catch your death of cold.."
"B-but..." Joe stammered but stopped when Jack raised his hand.
"No buts. I'll be back in a few minutes, it seems my cow is afraid of the thunder and she is in desperate need of attention," Jack chuckled as he jogged off towards the barn. Joe watched as he disappeared into the barn then crossed the yard towards Jack's home.
Joe closed the door and set his fishing gear on the floor. He glanced around Jack's home for the cabinet. Spotting it in the corner on the other side of the house he jogged quickly hoping to drip as little water as possible on the floor. As Joe opened the door a small avalanche of junk fell out of the cabinet and landed around his feet. Spotting a crumpled towel be dried himself off as best he could. He picked up the stuff that had fallen on the floor and crammed it back in the closet confident that they didn't have any particular places that they needed to go.
After the cleanup of the floor was finished Joe began wandering around looking at Jack's belongings, or lack there of. On his nightstand table Joe found a few photographs. He smiled as he picked them up and saw that they were some pictures that were taken of Joe's birthday party last month. Joe and Jack had hit it off at once when Jack had moved into the village. A cold blast of air shook Joe out of his thoughts as Jack opened the door.
"It is looking' pretty miserable out there. Poor little Bessie is all shaken up from the storm. Poor girl," Jack chuckled as he replaced his umbrella by the door. "Did you find the a towel? The cabinet is kind of messy,"
"Messy is a bit of an understatement. But yea I found it, thanks. Sorry to be a bother," Joe laughed.
"It's no bother really. Besides some company would be nice. Want something to drink?" Jack asked as he crossed the house to the fridge. He grabbed a couple herbs he had stored in there for just such a rainy day. As he tossed them into a pot on the stove Joe sat at the table and fidgeted nervously with his bandana and began to lose himself in thought.
"Here you go. Basil showed me a trick to make it taste even better than normal," Jack set a cup of Herb Tea on the table in front of Joe.
"Thanks," Joe smiled as he drank the tea. "Hey it does taste better!"
"So Joe, what's new? Got any pretty ladies in town you got your eye on?"
Joe startled by the sudden question almost gagged on his tea. "Um... well... no. I mean, yea, well no. Its complicated," He stammered as he began to blush.
"I can see that," Jack chuckled at how flustered Joe had gotten all of a sudden.
"Actually I did sort of want to talk to you about that..." Joe was getting redder with each word that came slowly out of his mouth. "Um Jack I sort of have a cr-"
Joe's sentence was cut short when door swung open suddenly and a shrill voice began shouting in the house. "Hi Jack! I hope you don't mind my stopping by, I brought you some fresh cake to warm you up from the cold rain! I thought we could share it just the two of us," The shrill voice belonged to none other than Katie, the young looking waitress of Carl's Cafe. Her bright smile faded once she saw Joe. "What are YOU doing here?"
"Joe was planning on doing some fishing in the river out back. But I asked him to come in because the weather was just too bad for fishing," Jack explained curious as to why those two seemed to dislike each other so much.
"Well I wasn't planning on there being another person. I'm not sure if the cake is big enough for three," anger flared in Katie's words.
"Actually I was just leaving," Joe glared at her as he moved to get his fishing gear. "Jack I'll see you around some other time. Maybe we can talk then?"
"Oh... OK then, bye Joe," Jack was a little sad, but still smiled and waved as Joe walked out the door.
"Yea, bye Joe," Katie said as she closed the door behind him before he could say anything else.
Joe walked slowly back to his house, upset that he let Katie get to him that badly. She always seemed to show up at the worst times and ruin Joe's normally cheerful mood. As he crossed the bridge that lead to his house he caught a glimpse of his face in the river. His face reflected back a look as bleak as the stormy sky behind it.